How female paraglider survived when plane thundered towards her at 250mph

Kristianna Draper was cruising at 2,200ft with a tiny paramotor on her back when the giant Airbus A400M thundered by her at 250mph.

It was so close at less than 185m she could see the silhouette of the pilot at the controls of the four turboprop engines – the most powerful made by Airbus.

The wake turbulence from the 45m-long plane could have crumpled Kristianna’s flimsy black and white glider, sending her spiralling to her death.

She avoided disaster by instinctively turning right and an official report said ‘providence’ played a major part in saving her.

The UK Airprox Board rated the incident in the skies above Andover, Hants, on July 18 as having the most serious degree of risk.